Visitor
Insurance Agencies
Dawes Brothers. The firm of Dawes Brothers, composed of Messrs. Charles and Samuel Dawes, is located in the Deaderick building. They are among the leading fire and life insurance writers of the city, representing as District Agents some of the largest insurance companies in the world.
The Messrs. Dawes Brothers are in a position to give prospectors information concerning various openings in this city and section and solicit correspondence on this line.
Mr. Charles Dawes is president of
the Associated Banking and Trust Company, one of Knoxville's new financial institutions,
located at No. 313 Wall Street, South. The standing of Messrs. Dawes Brothers
is among the highest in this city.
Real Estate Agencies
City Real Estate. No subject is fraught with more interest than the acquisition of a home. To enjoy the comforts of one's own fire side is a hope that springs eternal in the human breast. The foundation of this enjoyment lies in securing a place upon which to build. We have before spoken of the many inducements offered by this city as a place of residence. Knoxville is already a city of beautiful homes, but the number of fine residence sites is without limit. They are to be found in every part of the city. It is confidently believed that the price of building lots is lower in Knoxville than any other city in the United States.
This is especially true when the established wealth and the future prospects of the place are in any way considered. Under another title, we have shown that the transactions in real estate for building lots only has amounted to more than ten and a half millions of dollars during the last decade. For the year ending June 30, 1892, the transfers have reached nearly one and a half millions of dollars. If the number of transfers had been at "boom prices," such as have prevailed in other places, the yearly sales would have been fabulous. Good residence lots 50 x150 in the city may be had at prices ranging from $2 to $30 per front foot. Such lots in the finest residence portion of the city are sold at $1,500 to $2,000 each. Residence lots within ten squares of the center of the city may be had at $500. Fine business property can be purchased at $300 per front foot and upwards.
The reader is asked to compare these figures with any other city of 40,000 inhabitants and doing a business of many millions annually. Messrs. Geo. F. Barber & Co., leading architects of this city, who publish the "Cottage Souvenir," which is mailed all over the United States, state in that excellent work that it costs from fifteen to twenty per cent less to build in Knoxville than in Northern and Eastern cities.
The prices quoted for real estate
and the cost to build, coupled with the cost of living as detailed on another
page, give a series of inducements for choosing Knoxville as a new home that
are not to be passed lightly by.
Land Development
There are a large number of "additions" to the city, each offering beautiful property and many different firms engaged in the real estate business, but especial mention is to be made here of only a few of them. One of the foremost firms in this line is that of
Strongs, Braine and Epps. These gentlemen occupy handsome office rooms on the second floor, front, of the Borches Building, which is shown in an illustration.
This firm is composed of Messrs. B. R. Strong, A. N. Strong, Barney Braille and Wm. M. Epps. They have been known for several years past as among the most wide-awake and reliable of Knoxville's real estate dealers. Mr. B. R. Strong is president of the East Tennessee National Bank and is one of the leading capitalists of this city. He is also a member of the National Commission World's Columbian Exposition and vice-president of the American Bankers' Association. Mr. A. N. Strong is senior partner of the large and successful shoe store of Strong & Co., Market Square, this city; Mr. Barney Braille is a well known and influential capitalist, a gentleman of wide experience and fine business ability, whose career has been eminently successful; Mr. Wm. M. Epps is one of the foremost young business men of this city; a man whose judgment of the value of real estate is of the very highest order. These gentlemen, considered separately or as a firm, are among the foremost citizens of Knoxville, and capitalists and home-seekers will find it greatly to their advantage to correspond with them.
Strongs, Braine and Epps are the owners of much valuable city and suburban property. One of their present offerings is Roseberry City, a new addition to Knoxville. This addition is in the north section of Knoxville, and contains about 250 fine residence lots. From the top of Roseberry Ridge, which comprises part of this addition, is one of the most beautiful views to be found around the city. The Strongs are owners of Highland Park, containing 75 acres, six miles north of the city, from which the mountain peaks in six different States are plainly visible. The firm also owns 350 acres of fine marble lands south of the city, adjoining the Coral Reef marble quarry, which recently sold for $20,000.
These properties are only a part of their real estate, anything like an entire list being too large to mention here. Messrs. B. R. Strong and W. M. Epps are owners of the first State capitol building located on Cumberland Avenue, South.
Mr. B. R. Strong is also owner of "Strong's Springs," in Greene county, in the Great Valley of East Tennessee, north of Knoxville, where Davy Crockett, to whom reference has already been made, was born.
The Borches Building, where they have their offices, is located on corner Wall and Prince Streets, South.
Edgewood Land and Improvement Company. This well known association owns two of the finest residence additions to Knoxville. The lots in these new accessions to city's territory have been upon the market but for a short while -- only since Knoxville began her rapid growth. They are, for that reason as well as for their general desirability, being filled with choice residences of the modern styles of architecture.
The first of these additions is the Washington Avenue Addition, situated in the northeast section of the city, that part of Knoxville in which the greatest amount of improvements have been made in the past several years. The Washington Avenue Addition lies well, is well laid out in broad streets, with good sidewalks, and is well lighted by electric street lights. Electric cars pass through the center of the addition every few minutes, while the distance from the center of the city is not more than twenty squares. This addition is also well supplied with water from the city mains; in short, enjoys all the privileges of modern improvements as the older parts of the city. The greater part of the surface of the 150 acres comprising this addition is level, with sufficient slope for splendid surface drainage. There is, however, in almost the center of the tract, a smooth, round hill, which affords one of the finest views of the city and distant mountains to be had in this section of the city. The price of lots in this addition range from $500 to $1,000 each, a comparatively low price for Knoxville property. Some of the finest residences in Knoxville have been recently built in this addition, and as only people of respectability are purchasers, the society of this neighborhood must remain the best.
The other addition owned by this Company is situated in the north section of the city, on the Fountain City car line, and contains in all about 200 acres. This addition is finely situated, commanding a splendid view of many miles of the beautiful vale in which it lies. On the northern boundary of this tract the rugged sides of Roseberry Ridge present a wall several hundred feet in height. On the northeast, sixteen miles away, the bold blue outlines of House mountain are seen against the sky. On the southeast the Great Smoky mountains lie in silent grandeur. The Knoxville, Cumberland Gap & Louisville Railroad passes through this addition. Many choice residences have already been built upon the principal thoroughfare, Chicamauga Avenue. Lots in this addition range in prices from $250 to $500 each, and are sold on terms to suit purchasers.
The officers and directors of the Edgewood Land and Improvement Company are:
The office of the Company are located in the French & Roberts Building, Room 23, corner Depot and Gay Streets, North, opposite the Union Passenger Depot.
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